Automatic record changer

ABSTRACT

A simplified phonograph record changer mechanism is provided wherein after the last record has been played, a shut-off stud on the cycling gear contacts a shut-off lever. This imparts a movement to the shut-off lever and causes it to coact with other parts of the changer mechanism effective to move the changer motor power switch to its OFF position. The shut-off lever is positioned to interfere with the shut-off stud&#39;&#39;s path of travel only after the last record has been played which is determined by the position of the stabilizer arm stab shaft. At all other times, the shut-off lever is positioned so that the shut-off stud will not contact the lever.

United States Patent 1191 Tourtellot 14 1 Oct. 2, 1973 AUTOMATIC RECORDCHANGER [75] Inventor: John Allen Tourtellot, Indianapolis,

211 Appl. No.: 36,224

Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant ExaminerSteven L. StephanAtrorney-Eugene M. Whitacre [57] ABSTRACT A simplified phonograph recordchanger mechanism is provided wherein after the last record has beenplayed, a shut-off stud on the cycling gear contacts a shut-off lever.This imparts a movement to the shut-off lever 52] U.S. CL. 274/10 R andcauses i to meet with other parts of the changer [51] Int. Cl Gllb17/12, G1 lb 17/16 mechanism effective to o the ang m t r pow r [58]Field of Search 274/10 R switch to its OFF position. The shut-off leveris p0sitioned to interfere with the shut-off stud s path of travel [56]Referen Cit d only after the last record has been played which is de-UNITED STATES PATENTS termined by the position of the stabilizer armstab shaft. At all other times, the shut-off lever is positioned so ggzzzg at that the shut-off stud will not contact the lever.

' 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUU 2191s I SHEET 2 OF 5 2a My //vv5 ran John A/Aen Tour/6N0) BY a?" f A T TOR!!! Y PAIENTEUHEI 2191s3.762.723

' SHEET 3 BF 5 INVENTOR John A//en Tourfe/mf ww w ATTORNEY PATENTEU BET2 I973 SHEET k 0F 5 INVENTOR John A//en TouneV/of ATTORNEY AUTOMATICRECORD CHANGER The present invention relates to automatic recordchangers, and more particularly, to control and cycling mechanisms forsuch changers.

The utilization of automatic shut-off mechanisms in record changes isknown. These mechanisms function to manipulate the changer motor powerswitch operator to open the switch contacts and de-energize the changermotor after the last record has been played and the tone arm ispositioned on the tone arm rest. To achieve proper timing, that is,de-energization of the changer m'otor after the tone arm has landed onthe tone arm rest with the changer components in their OFF position,critical parts tolerances are generally required. To avoid fire hazards,many changers are designed so that the power switch will be turned offearly in the cycle after the last record has been played to insure thatthe power switch operator is moved to the OFF position to open theswitch contacts. Unfortunately, with the changer motor de-energized,helper levers or springs are often required to provide additional powerto complete the changer cycle and move the changer components to theirOFF position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedautomatic record changer mechanism which is simple in construction, easyto manufacture at low cost, and reliable in operation.

In accordance with the present invention, a phonograph record changerincludes a motor board supporting a turntable and a spindle adapted tosupport a stack of records. Means electrically energize the changer toeffect rotation of the turntable. A cycling gear is positioned beneaththe motor board and rotates during each record changing cycle. Thecycling gear supports a first means which rotates with the gear. Asecond means is coupled to a shut-off lever to position the lever tointerfere with the first means path of travel after a last record hasbeen played. When the first means contacts the shut-off lever it causesthe lever to move. Means electrically de-energize the phonograph recordchanger in response to the movement of the shut-off lever.

. Acomplete understanding of the present invention may be obtained fromthe following detailed description thereof, when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an automatic record changer embodying thepresent invention partly broken away to show the changer mechanisms;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the portion of the automaticrecord changer mechanism shown in FIG. 1 adjacent the changer cyclinggear with the changer power switch operator in its OFF position;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a portion of theautomatic record changer mechanism shown in FIG. 1 at the moment justprior to deenergization of the changer motor;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a portion of theautomatic record changer mechanism shown in FIG. I with the changermotor tie-energized and the changer components in their OFF position;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the automatic record changermechanism shown in FIG. 1 partly broken away to show the changermechanism with a record supported on the changer spindle;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the automatic record changermechanism shown in FIG. 1 partly broken away to show the changermechanism just after a record has dropped onto the changer turntable;and

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the automatic record changermechanism shown in FIG. 1 partly exploded and broken away to show thechanger mechanism after the last record has been played and the changermotor de-energized.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designatesimilar elements in the various views, a record changer includes a motorboard 20 which supports a rotatable turntable 22. A rubber mat 24 issecured to the top portion of the turntable to provide a frictionalcontact with records resting on the turntable. A tone arm 26, supportinga pickup near its free end, is mounted to and rotates with a swivelbracket 28. The tone arm 26 is secured to the swivel bracket 28 so thatthe tone arm may be pivotally moved in a vertical plane. A tone armshaft 30 extends from the swivel bracket 28 to the underside of themotor board 20.

A record centering spindle 32 is mounted to the motor board 20 andprojects up through the center of the turntable 22. The spindle includesa shelf portion 34 for supporting a stack of records and a recordejector lever 36 which extends axially along the'spindle 32 from aheight slightly above the shelf 34 to beneath the motor board 20.Movement of the ejector lever 36 by the changer cycling slide 38 resultsin a shifting of the lowermost record off the shelf so that the recordcan drop down along the spindle ontothe turntable 22 or onto the topmostrecord supported by the turntable.

A record stabilizing arm 40 is mounted in a housing 42 on the motorboard 20. The arm 40 is mounted to be moved upward enough to clear thetop of the spindle 32 and is rotatable to a position clear of theturntable so that records may be loaded on the spindle. After loadingone or more records, here record 41, the stabilizing arm 40 is rotatedover the spindle 32 and lowered onto the top record of the stack tomaintain the records in a horizontal position. After the last record ofthe stack has been dropped to the turntable 22, the stabilizing arm 40drops to a lower position to provide an indication to the automaticrecord changing mechanism that the last record has dropped to theturntable. The record stabilizing arm 40 includes a stab shaft 44 whichextends below the motor board 20 and cooperates with other components ofthe record changing mechanism to move the power switch operator 46 toopen the switch contacts to de-energize the changer motor after the lastrecord has been played.

The changer motor and a speed change mechanism are mounted beneath themotor board 20. The motor shaft 48 drives an idler wheel'50. The idlerwheel 50 contacts the inside rim of'the turntable 22 toprovide amultiple speed rim drive.

The turntable 22 includes, as an integral part, a hub which extendsbeneath the motor board 20 and supports a drive gear 52 and a boss orprojection 54.The drive gear 52 operates the mechanism which effects theautomatic record change, and the projection 54 cooperates with othermechanisms to provide a velocity trip system for initiating a recordchanging cycle.

A cycling gear 56, adapted to be driven by the gear 52, is rotatablymounted to a support 58 on the underside of the motor board 20. Thecycling gear has a mutilated sector, a portion having no teeth, inregistry with the drive gear 52 prior to the initiation of a recordchanging cycle and during the playing of a record (FIGS. 1 and 7). Theteeth of the drive gear 52 do not mesh with the teeth of cycling gear 56and no power is transmitted to the record changing mechanism duringthese periods.

On the top surface of the cycling gear 56 near the mutilated sector, aboss 59 pivotally supports a trip pawl 60. A trip lever 62 is mounted onthe underside of the motor board and tracks the movement of the pickuparm 26 to provide a velocity trip for the trip pawl. The trip lever isconnected by a pickup arm lever 64 to the tone arm shaft 30. The pickuparm lever 64 couples movement of the tone arm shaft 30 to the trip lever62 which actuates a record changing cycle after each record is played.

The cycling slide 38 is mounted for reciprocating movement in ahorizontal plane beneath the cycling gear 56. The slide 38 is supportedby a bearing washer, not shown, attached to a supporting shaft 66 whichextends from the motor board through an elongated slot 68 in the cyclingslide 38 (FIGS. 3 and 4) and by a guide slot in the cycling gear support58. The cycling slide 38 is driven in a known manner by a projection onthe cycling gear 56. The projection is offset from the axis of rotationof the cycling gear and is received in an elongated transverse slot inthe cycling slide 38 to effect reciprocating movement of the slide inresponse to rotation of the cycling gear.

The record changer is operated by means of three slide controlspositioned on the top of the motor board 20. A first control 70 ispositioned for the particular record size to be played. The controloperates the portion of the changer mechanism which causes the tone tomove a proper distance toward the spindle before letting down so thatthe pickup stylus engages the lead-in groove on the record. A secondcontrol 72 is positioned to adjust the speed change mechanism for theproper turntable rotational speed. The portion of the changer mechanismoperated by controls 70 and 72 may be of the conventional type.Onesuitable arrangement is described in Record Changer Service Data File1968 No. 45. Copies of the Service Data may be obtained from RCACorporation, 600 North Sherman Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana.

A function control 74 is movable to four positions; the positions are,from the lowermost setting to the uppermost setting, OFF, MANUAL,AUTOMATIC, and SELECT. When the function control 74 is moved from theOFF position to the MANUAL position, a slot forming a guide 76 in thefunction lever 78 moves the changer motor power switch operator 46 tothe ON position, closing the switch contacts to thereby energize themotor. At the same time, a tab 80 on the function lever 78 moves anautomatic neutral lever 82 (FIG. I) away from the idler wheel mountingto allow the idler wheel 50 to contact the motor shaft 48 and turntablerim. The turntable now rotates. Simultaneously, a detent lever 84 ismoved by a roller 86 mounted to one of its ends and guided in an angularslot 88 in function lever 78. The detent lever latch finger 90 engages alatch or notched cutout 92 in the motor board 20. This holds thefunction lever 78 in position. A vertical tab 93 on the function lever78 moves into a position to block the trip lever 62 and prevent it fromcontacting the trip pawl 60 on the cycling gear 56 which would set thecycling gear in motion. As is best shown in FIG. 4, the cut-out has twosteps 92a and 92b to provide a detent for the function lever in theMANUAL and AU- TOMATlC positions.

With the function control 74 in the MANUAL position, the changer willnot function automatically because the trip lever 62 is blocked by thetrip pawl blocking tab 93 from contact with the trip pawl 60. Therecords may be played by manually placing the record on the turntable 22and lifting the pickup arm onto the record. The pickup arm must also beremoved from the record manually at the end of a record.

When the function control is moved against a spring pressure (the detentlever spring 94) to the SELECT position, held there momentarily andthereafter released, the function control returns to the AUTO- MATICposition and the changer begins to cycle. In this position, the detentlever latch finger is held by the tension of the detent spring 94against cut-out step 92b. Moving the function control 74 to the SELECTposition moves a tab 96 on the function lever into contact with the trippawl 60 and pushes the pawl into position to start the automatic cycle.The trip pawl blocking tab 93 is no longer in the blocking position sothat the trip lever 62 may contact the trip pawl 60 at the end of therecord.

As the turntable rotates, the projection 54 on the turntable hub engagesthe trip pawl 60 causing the cycling gear 56 to rotate and engage thedrive gear 52. The cycling gear 56 will rotate until the mutilatedsector on the gear is again opposite the drive gear 52. When the cyclinggear 56 begins to rotate, the cycling slide starts its reciprocatingmovement. During the change cycle, the cycling gear 56 completes onerevolution and the cycling slide 38 completes one inward and outwardexcursion.

The cycling slide 38 as it moves inward forces a pickup arm lift rod 98to ride up a ramp 100 at the outer end of the cycling slide. The pickuparm lift rod 98 reaches maximum height with one-quarter revolution ofthe cycling gear 56. The pickup arm lever 64 which is secured to thetone arm shaft 30 rises and contacts a landing lever 104. The landinglever 104 is coupled by a lever arrangement to the record size control70 to control the let down point of the tone arm 26. Further rotation ofthe cycling gear and subsequent inward movement of the cycling slidecauses an upturned tab 102 on the outer end of the cycling slide 38 tocontact the landing lever 104 and pickup arm lever 64 and rotate them.The rotation is imparted to the tone arm from the pickup arm lever 64via its connection to the tone arm shaft 30. During this portion of thecycling slide travel, the pickup arm lift rod 98 rides on a plateau 106of the ramp 100.

As the pickup arm 26 reaches a position at the outward travel where itwill clear the edge of a 12 inch record, the cycling gear end of thecycling slide 38 contacts the portion of the record push-off lever 36extending beneath the motor board 20, causing the bottom record on thestack to be pushed off the shelf of the record spindle 32 and drop onthe turntable 22, completing the first half of the change cycle. 1

As the cycling gear 56 continues to rotate into the last half of thechange cycle, the cycling slide 38 begins to travel outward. The outwardmovement of the cycling slide upturned tab 102 cause it to disengagefrom the landing lever 104 and the pickup arm lever 64 allowing thelanding lever tension spring 110 to rotate the two levers and move thepickup arm inward. A slot 112 at the end of a shut-off lever 114 rideson a pin 116 in the detent lever 84. When the landing lever 104 rotates,the shut-off lever 114, which is linked to the landing lever by means ofa slot 118 and landing lever pin 120, moves out of the path of ashut-off stud 122 on the cycling gear 56. Thus, the stud 122 does notcontact the ramp 124 at the end of the shut-off lever 114. The shut-offlever 114 movement is guided by the captive detent lever pin 116 in theshut-off lever slot 112.

The continued outward movement of the cycling slide 38 completes therelease of the landing lever 104 and the pickup arm lever 64. The pickuparm lift rod 98 rides off the plateau 106 and down the ramp 100 allowingthe pickup arm 26 to descend to the record. As the pickup arm lift rod98 nears the bottom of the ramp 100, the compression of the pickup armlift rod tension spring 126 is released and the pickup arm lever 64moves away from the landing lever 104 leaving the pickup arm lever 64free to move. Just before the cycling gear 56 completes the fullrevolution, at approximately seven-eighths revolution, the trip pawl 60is reset. When the trip pawl 60 was initially actuated by the tab 96 onthe function lever 78, a portion of the pawl was moved to eXtend over afew teeth of the cycling gear 56. As these teeth mesh with the teeth onthe drive gear 52, the pawl is pushed back to the non-trip position bythe drive gear teeth.

When the pickup arm 26 lands on the record, the pickup stylus engagesthe lead-in groove on the record and moves inward. The movement of thepickup arm 26 is now controlled by the groove in the record. Ananti-skate spring 128 is coupled between a depending stud 130 on thepickup arm lever 64 and a projecting ear 132 on the cycling slide 38.The anti-skate spring 128 provides a small torque to compensate for thefrictional drag force of the stylus on the record.

As the record plays, the pickup arm 26 is moved inward at a slow rateand at a constant distance per revo lution. When the pickup arm 26 hasadvanced to the end of the record, the pickup stylus enters the fastadvance or tripping groove which causes the pickup arm to move inward ata greater speed. The additional inward speed of the pickup arm 26 and,hence, trip lever 62, is sufficient to move the trip pawl 60 intocontact with the projection 54. The engagement of the pawl and theprojection causes the cycling gear to rotate so that its teeth mesh withthe teeth in drive gear 52, starting a change cycle.

The dropping of the last record in the stack permits the stabilizer arm40 to also drop. When the stabilizer arm 40 drops during this cycle, thelower end 136 of the stab shaft 44 momentarily rests on the top of ashutoff latch 134 which is secured for rotation on the landing lever 104and biased by a spring 142 coupled to the landing lever (FIG. 6). As thelanding lever 104 rotates, the lower end 136 of the stab shaft slips offthe shut-off latch 134 and drops onto a shelf portion 144 on the landinglever. This does not affect the playing of the last record, but duringthe next cycle, the landing lever 104 in rotating moves out from underthe stabilizer arm stab shaft end 136. The stabilizer stab shaft bearsagainst the shut-off latch 134 and rotates it so that the stab shaft maydrop to its lowermost position (FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). In this position thestab shaft end 136 is held captive between an edge of the landing lever104 and an edge of the shut-off latch 134. As the cycling slide 38starts the outward journey, the stabilizer arm shaft end 136 blocks themovement of the landing lever 104 and the pickup arm lever 64, holdingthem in their outward position with the pickup arm over the pickup armrest 140. With the landing lever 104 in this position, the shut-offlever 114 is held in a position where the ramp 124 will be contacted bythe shut-off stud 122 on the cycling gear 56 and does not move in themanner previously described where the landing lever 104 was not blockedand the shut-off lever ramp 124 was moved out of the path of travel ofthe stud 1.22.

As the cycling slide 38 continues the outward excursion, the pickup armlift rod 98 rides down the ramp 100 and the pickup arm 26 is loweredonto the rest. The shut-off stud 122 on the cycling gear 56 contacts theshut-off lever ramp 124 and the shut-off lever 114 pushes the detentlever 84 to cause it to unlatch. Specifically, the detent lever latchfinger is caused to disengage from the notched cut-out 92. This allowsthe function lever 78 to be returned to the OFF position by the force ofthe detent lever spring 94 acting through the slot 88 in the functionlever. The function lever 78 in returning to the OFF position moves thechanger motor power switch operator 46 to open the switch contacts tode-energize the changer motor and moves the neutral lever 82 to push theidler wheel 50 out of contact with the motor shaft 48 and turntable rim.The cycle has now been completed, and the record changer is turned offwith the tone arm 26 resting on the tone arm support 140, the mutilatedsector of the cycling gear 56 adjacent the drive gear 52. It should benoted that when the stabilizer arm 40 is lifted, either to unloadrecords from the turntable 22 or to position records on the spindle 32,the stab shaft end 136 is withdrawn from its captive position. When thisoccurs, the landing lever 104, under the tension of the landing leverspring 110, snaps back to its rest position and the shut-off latch 134,under the tension of spring 142, also moves to its rest position.

What is claimed is:

I. In a phonograph record changer of the type including a motor boardsupporting a rotatable turntable, a spindle adapted to support a stackof records to be played, the record stack being steadied by a stabilizerarm which is vertically movable and is mounted to a stabilizer arm stabshaft extending through the motor board, and a power switch having aswitch operator for closing and opening the switch contacts toelectrically energize and de-energize said phonograph record changer tocontrol the rotation of said turntable, the improvement comprising:

a cycling gear having major surfaces and adapted to rotate during arecord changing cycle of operation;

a shut-off stud secured for rotation with said cycling gear andprojecting from a major surface of said gear;

a cycling slide coupled to said cycling gear to be driven in areciprocating movement toward and away from the central axis of saidturntable during a record changing cycle of operation;

a landing lever rotatably mounted beneath said motor board;

said cycling slide positioned to engage said landing lever during itsmovement toward the central axis of said turntable such that saidlanding lever is rotated in a first direction;

spring means coupled to said landing lever to bias said lever forrotation in a second direction;

a shut-off lever coupled to said landing lever;

said stab shaft positioned to block said landing lever from rotating insaid second direction after a last record in said stack has been playedand said cycling slide has disengaged from said landing lever during itsmovement away from the central axis of said turntable;

said shut-off lever positioned to interfere with said shut-off stud pathof travel when said stab shaft blocks said landing lever;

said shut-off stud contacting said shut-off lever after said last recordhas been played to move said shutoff lever; and

a function lever coupled to said power switch operator and responsive tothe movement of said shut-off lever to manipulate said operator to openthe switch contacts. 2. A phonograph record changer as defined in claim1 wherein said motor board has notched cut-out portions and including adetent lever coupled between said shut-off lever and said functionlever, said detent lever having a projection adapted to cooperate withsaid motor board notched cut-out portion.

3. A phonograph record changer as defined in claim 2 including ashut-off latch rotatably secured to said landing lever, said stab shaftin the blocking position held captive between said shut-off latch andsaid landing lever.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,762,723 Dated October 2, 1973 Inventor(s) John Allen Tourtellot It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

At column 1, line 7, "changes" should read --changers-- A1: column 3, 1line 35, after "tone insert --arm-- Signed and sealed this 2nd day ofApril 19M.

(SEAL) Atte st:

EDWARD ILFLETGHERJR. C. MARSHALL DAMN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents FORM Po'mso (10.69) USCOMM-DC seam-p09 3530 672 e 0.5. aovzrmusr'r Pmmrms OFFICE: 1969 o--sse-au

1. In a phonograph record changer of the type including a motor boardsupporting a rotatable turntable, a spindle adapted to support a stackof records to be played, the record stack being steadied by a stabilizerarm which is vertically movable and is mounted to a stabilizer arm stabshaft extending through the motor board, and a power switch having aswitch operator for closing and opening the switch contacts toelectrically energize and de-energize said phonograph record changer tocontrol the rotation of said turntable, the improvement comprising: acycling gear having major surfaces and adapted to rotate during a recordchanging cycle of operation; a shut-off stud secured for rotation withsaid cycling gear and projecting from a major surface of said gear; acycling slide coupled to said cycling gear to be driven in areciprocating movement toward and away from the central axis of saidturntable during a record changing cycle of operation; a landing leverrotatably mounted beneath said motor board; said cycling slidepositioned to engage said landing lever during its movement toward thecentral axis of said turntable such that said landing lever is rotatedin a first direction; spring means coupled to said landing lever to biassaid lever for rotation in a second direction; a shut-off lever coupledto said landing lever; said stab shaft positioned to block said landinglever from rotating in said second direction after a last record in saidstack has been played and said cycling slide has disengaged from saidlanding lever during its movement away from the central axis of saidturntable; said shut-off lever positioned to interfere with saidshut-off stud path of travel when said stab shaft blocks said landinglever; said shut-off stud contacting said shut-off lever after said lastrecord has been played to move said shut-off lever; and a function levercoupled to said power switch operator and responsive to the movement ofsaid shut-off lever to manipulate said operator to open the switchcontacts.
 2. A phonograph record changer as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid motor board has notched cut-out portions and including a detentlever coupled between said shut-off lever and said function lever, saiddetent lever having a projection adapted to cooperate with said motorboard notched cut-out portion.
 3. A phonograph record changer as definedin claim 2 including a shut-off latch rotatably secured to said landinglever, said stab shaft in the blocking position held captive betweensaid shut-off latch and said landing lever.